From braid groups to mapping class groups

Minimal generating and normally generating sets for the braid and mapping class groups of the disc, the sphere and the projective plane

We consider the (pure) braid groups B_{n}(M) and P_{n}(M), where M is the 2-sphere S^2 or the real projective plane RP^2. We determine the minimal cardinality of (normal) generating sets X of these groups, first when there is no restriction on X, and secondly when X consists of elements of finite order. This improves on results of Berrick and Matthey in the case of S^2, and extends them in the case of RP^2. We begin by recalling the situation for the Artin braid groups. As applications of our results, we answer the corresponding questions for the associated mapping class groups, and we show th…

渐近刚性映射类群 II：链图与非正曲率

Asymptotically rigid mapping class groups II: strand diagrams and nonpositive curvature

该研究提出由特定半群表示的编织链图构造的Chambord群新类，涵盖多种已知渐近刚性映射类群，并证明其多循环子群具有几乎阿贝尔且不失真的性质。

The braided Ptolemy-Thompson group $T^*$ is asynchronously combable

The braided Ptolemy-Thompson group $T^*$ is an extension of the Thompson group $T$ by the full braid group $B_{\infty}$ on infinitely many strands. This group is a simplified version of the acyclic extension considered by Greenberg and Sergiescu, and can be viewed as a mapping class group of a certain infinite planar surface. In a previous paper we showed that $T^*$ is finitely presented. Our main result here is that $T^*$ (and $T$) is asynchronously combable. The method of proof is inspired by Lee Mosher's proof of automaticity of mapping class groups.

On the linearity of certain mapping class groups

S. Bigelow proved that the braid groups are linear. That is, there is a faithful representation of the braid group into the general linear group of some field. Using this, we deduce from previously known results that the mapping class group of a sphere with punctures and hyperelliptic mapping class groups are linear. In particular, the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface of genus 2 is linear.

Normal subgroups of the braid group and the metaconjecture of Ivanov

We show that many normal subgroups of the braid group modulo its centre, and of the mapping class group of a sphere with marked points, have the property that their automorphism and abstract commensurator groups are mapping class groups of such spheres. As one application, we establish the automorphism groups of each term in the lower central series and derived series of the pure braid group. We also obtain new proofs of results of Dyer-Grossman and Orevkov, showing that the automorphism groups of the braid group and of its commutator subgroup are isomorphic. We then calculate the automorphism…

Automorphisms of surface braid groups

In this paper, we prove that each automorphism of a surface braid group is induced by a homeomorphism of the underlying surface, provided that this surface is a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus at least 2, and the number of strings is at least three. This result generalizes previous results for classical braid groups, mapping class groups, and Torelli groups.

Commensurators of surface braid groups

We prove that if g and n are integers at least two, then the abstract commensurator of the braid group with n strands on a closed orientable surface of genus g is naturally isomorphic to the extended mapping class group of a compact orientable surface of genus g with n boundary components.

Asymptotically rigid mapping class groups and Thompson's groups

We consider Thompson's groups from the perspective of mapping class groups of surfaces of infinite type. This point of view leads us to the braided Thompson groups, which are extensions of Thompson's groups by infinite (spherical) braid groups. We will outline the main features of these groups and some applications to the quantization of Teichmüller spaces. The chapter provides an introduction to the subject with an emphasis on some of the authors results.

The center of some braid groups and the Farrell cohomology of certain pure mapping class groups

In this paper we first show that many braid groups of low genus surfaces have their centers as direct factors. We then give a description of centralizers and normalizers of prime order elements in pure mapping class groups of surfaces with spherical quotients using automorphism groups of fundamental groups of the quotient surfaces. As an application, we use these to show that the $p$-primary part of the Farrell cohomology groups of certain mapping class groups are elementary abelian groups. At the end we compute the $p$-primary part of the Farrell cohomology of a few pure mapping class groups.

Braid Groups are Linear

The braid groups B_n can be defined as the mapping class group of the n-punctured disc. The Lawrence-Krammer representation of the braid group B_n is the induced action on a certain twisted second homology of the space of unordered pairs of points in the n-punctured disc. Recently, Daan Krammer showed that this is a faithful representation in the case n=4. In this paper, we show that it is faithful for all n.

The braided Ptolemy-Thompson group is finitely presented

Pursueing our investigations on the relations between Thompson groups and mapping class groups, we introduce the group $T^*$ (and its further generalizations) which is an extension of the Ptolemy-Thompson group $T$ by means of the full braid group $B_{\infty}$ on infinitely many strands. We prove that it is a finitely presented group with solvable word problem, and give an explicit presentation of it.

Geometric representations of the braid groups

We show that the morphisms from the braid group with n strands in the mapping class group of a surface with a possible non empty boundary, assuming that its genus is smaller or equal to n/2 are either cyclic morphisms (their images are cyclic groups), or transvections of monodromy morphisms (up to multiplication by an element in the centralizer of the image, the image of a standard generator of the braid group is a Dehn twist, and the images of two consecutive standard generators are two Dehn twists along two curves intersecting in one point). As a corollary, we determine the endomorphisms, th…

Abstract commensurators of braid groups

Let B_n be the braid group on n strands, with n at least 4, and let Mod(S) be the extended mapping class group of the sphere with n+1 punctures. We show that the abstract commensurator of B_n is isomorphic to a semidirect product of Mod(S) with a group we refer to as the transvection subgroup, Tv(B_n). We also show that Tv(B_n) is itself isomorphic to a semidirect product of an infinite dimensional rational vector space with the multiplicative group of nonzero rational numbers.

Geometric presentations for the pure braid group

We give several new positive finite presentations for the pure braid group that are easy to remember and simple in form. All of our presentations involve a metric on the punctured disc so that the punctures are arranged "convexly", which is why we describe them as geometric presentaitons. Motivated by a presentation for the full braid group that we call the "rotation presentation", we introduce presentations for the pure braid group that we call the "twist presentation" and the "swing presentation". From the point of view of mapping class groups, the swing presentation can be interpreted as st…

Embeddings of the braid groups of covering spaces, classification of the finite subgroups of the braid groups of the real projective plane, and linearity of braid groups of low-genus surfaces

Let M be a compact, connected surface, possibly with a finite set of points removed from its interior. Let d,n be positive integers, and let N be a d-fold covering space of M. We show that the covering map induces an embedding of the n-th braid group B_n(M) of M in the (dn)-th braid group B_{dn}(N) of N, and give several applications of this result. First, we classify the finite subgroups of the n-th braid group of the real projective plane, from which we deduce an alternative proof of the classification of the finite subgroups of the mapping class group of the n-punctured real projective plan…

Braid groups are almost co-Hopfian

Let B_n be the braid group on n > 3 strands. We prove that B_n modulo its center is co-Hopfian. We then show that any injective endomorphism of B_n is geometric in the sense that it is induced by a homeomorphism of a punctured disk. We further prove that any injection from B_n to B_n+1 is geometric. Additionally, we obtain analogous results for mapping class groups of punctured spheres. The methods use Thurston's theory of surface homeomorphisms and build upon work of Ivanov and McCarthy.

On the inverse mapping class monoids

Braid groups and mapping class groups have many features in common. Similarly to the notion of inverse braid monoid inverse mapping class monoid is defined. It concerns surfaces with punctures, but among given $n$ punctures several can be omitted. This corresponds to braids where the number of strings is not fixed. In the paper we give the analogue of the Dehn-Nilsen-Baer theorem, propose a presentation of the inverse mapping class monoid for a punctured sphere and study the word problem. This shows that certain properties and objects based on mapping class groups may be extended to the invers…

On Vassiliev invariants of braid groups of the sphere

We construct a universal Vassiliev invariant for braid groups of the sphere and the mapping class groups of the sphere with $n$ punctures. The case of a sphere is different from the classical braid groups or braids of oriented surfaces of genus strictly greater than zero, since Vassiliev invariants in a group without 2-torsion do not distinguish elements of braid group of a sphere.

Geometric embeddings of braid groups do not merge conjugacy classes

An embedding of the m-times punctured disc into the n-times punctured disc, for n>m, yields an embedding of the braid group on m strands B_m into the braid group on n strands B_n, called a geometric embedding. The main example consists of adding n-m trivial strands to the right of each braid on m strands. We show that geometric embeddings do not merge conjugacy classes, meaning that if the images of two elements in B_m by a geometric embedding are conjugate in B_n, the original elements are conjugate in B_m. We also show that the result does not hold, in general, for geometric embeddings of ma…

Isotopy and homeomorphism of closed surface braids

The closure of a braid in a closed orientable surface $Σ$ is a link in $Σ\times S^1$. We classify such closed surface braids up to isotopy and homeomorphism (with a small indeterminacy for isotopy of closed sphere braids), algebraically in terms of the surface braid group. We find that in positive genus, braids close to isotopic links if and only if they are conjugate, and close to homeomorphic links if and only if they are in the same orbit of the outer action of the mapping class group on the surface braid group modulo its center.

On PM-mapping class monoids

In this paper, we introduce PM-mapping class monoids. Braid groups and mapping class groups have many features in common. Similarly to the notion of braid PM-monoid, PM-mapping class monoid is defined. This construction is an analogy of inverse mapping class monoid defined by R. Karoui and V. V. Vershinin. As the main result, we give the analog of the Dehn-Nilsen-Baer theorem.

Braids, inner automorphisms and the Andreadakis problem

In this paper, we generalize the tools that were introduced in [Dar19b] in order to study the Andreadakis problem for subgroups of IAn. In particular, we study the behaviour of the Andreadakis problem when we add inner automorphisms to a subgroup of IAn. We notably use this to show that the Andreadakis equality holds for the pure braid group on n strands modulo its center acting on the free group on n-1 generators , that is, for the (pure, based) mapping class group of the n-punctured sphere acting on its fundamental group.

Braids: A Survey

This article is about Artin's braid group and its role in knot theory. We set ourselves two goals: (i) to provide enough of the essential background so that our review would be accessible to graduate students, and (ii) to focus on those parts of the subject in which major progress was made, or interesting new proofs of known results were discovered, during the past 20 years. A central theme that we try to develop is to show ways in which structure first discovered in the braid groups generalizes to structure in Garside groups, Artin groups and surface mapping class groups. However, the literat…

2-轨道流形的映射类群

Mapping class groups for 2-orbifolds

本文定义了带标记点的轨道流形映射类群，利用弧与简单闭曲线的类似物研究其作用，并建立Birman正合序列以推导有限表示，为轨道流形辫群研究奠定基础。

A survey of surface braid groups and the lower algebraic K-theory of their group rings

We give a survey of the theory of surface braid groups and the lower algebraic K-theory of their group rings. We recall several definitions and describe various properties of surface braid groups, such as the existence of torsion, orderability, linearity, and their relation both with mapping class groups and with the homotopy groups of the 2-sphere. The braid groups of the 2-sphere and the real projective plane are of particular interest because they possess elements of finite order, and we discuss in detail their torsion and the classification of their finite and virtually cyclic subgroups. F…

直角Artin群作为映射类群的正规子群

Right-angled Artin groups as normal subgroups of mapping class groups

本文构造了映射类群中同构于非自由直角Artin群的正规子群的首例，推广了Dahmani-Guirardel-Osin的结果，并给出两个应用：构造不在任何同余子群中的真正规子群及具有特定正规闭包性质的伪Anosov映射类。

辫群不是剩余有限刚性的

Braid groups are not profinitely rigid

研究当n≥4时n股辫群Bₙ是否剩余有限刚性，通过展示一族特殊有限生成剩余有限群与Bₙ有相同剩余有限完备化来证明其非剩余有限刚性，给出非剩余有限刚性映射类群首个例子。

Linearity of some low-complexity mapping class groups

By analyzing known presentations of the pure mapping groups of orientable surfaces of genus $g$ with $b$ boundary components and $n$ punctures, we show that these groups are isomorphic to some groups related to the braid groups and the Artin group of type $D_4$ in the cases when $g=0$ with $b$ and $n$ arbitrary, and when $g=1$ and $b+n$ is at most $3$. As a corollary, we conclude that the pure mapping class groups are linear in these cases.

具有层次超几何群的漏斗空间，及其在德恩填充商中的应用

Cusped spaces for hierarchically hyperbolic groups, and applications to Dehn filling quotients

本文提出一种构造方法，同时产生相对超几何群的漏斗空间和准等距于泰克米勒度量的空间。通过此方法研究了各种群的德恩填充类似商，包括穿孔球的映射类群。特别地，证明了五孔球的映射类群（或四strand辫群）有无限超几何商，且不与其他球面映射类群（或辫群）的超几何商同构。

The virtual and universal braids

We study the structure of the virtual braid group. It is shown that the virtual braid group is a semi--direct product of the virtual pure braid group and the symmetric group. Also, it is shown that the virtual pure braid group is a semi--direct product of free groups. From these results we obtain a normal form of words in the virtual braid group. We introduce the concept of a universal braid group. This group contains the classical braid group and has as its quotient groups the singular braid group, virtual braid group, welded braid group, and classical braid group.

带穿孔的可定向曲面的映射类群的真正几何维数

The proper geometric dimension of the mapping class group of an orientable surface with punctures

本文证明了带穿孔可定向闭曲面全映射类群的真正作用紧上分类空间维数等于其虚拟上同调维数，并推得全球面辫群的真正几何维数。

The braid group of Z^n

We define pseudo-Garside groups and prove a theorem about them parallel to Garside's result on the word problem for the usual braid groups. The main novelty is that the set of simple elements can be infinite. We introduce a group B=B(Z^n) which we call the braid group of Z^n, and which bears some vague resemblance to mapping class groups. It is to GL(n,Z) what the braid group is to the symmetric group S_n. We prove that B is a pseudo-Garside group. We give a small presentation for B(Z^n) assuming one for B(Z^3) is given.

可提升辫与着色辫群胚

Liftable braids and the coloured braid groupoid

本文针对圆盘的分歧覆盖，将辫群的提升同态推广到着色辫群胚到映射类群胚的映射，并刻画了每个着色辫的提升，恢复了经典结果。

Irreducible Sp-representations and subgroup distortion in the mapping class group

We prove that various subgroups of the mapping class group $Mod(Σ)$ of a surface $Σ$ are at least exponentially distorted. Examples include the Torelli group (answering a question of Hamenstadt), the "point-pushing" and surface braid subgroups, and the Lagrangian subgroup. Our techniques include a method to compute lower bounds on distortion via representation theory and an extension of Johnson theory to arbitrary subgroups of $H_1(Σ;\mathbb{Z})$.

Orderings of mapping class groups after Thurston

We are concerned with mapping class groups of surfaces with nonempty boundary. We present a very natural method, due to Thurston, of finding many different left orderings of such groups. The construction involves equipping the surface with a hyperbolic structure, embedding the universal cover in the hyperbolic plane, and extending the action of the mapping class group on it to its limit points on the circle at infinity. We classify all orderings of braid groups which arise in this way. Moreover, restricting to a certain class of ``nonpathological'' orderings, we prove that there are only finit…

A presentation for Hilden's subgroup of the braid group

Consider the unit ball, B = D x [0,1], containing n unknotted arcs a_1, ... a_n such that the boundary of each a_i lies in D x {0}. We give a finite presentation for the mapping class group of B fixing the arcs {a_1, ..., a_n} setwise and fixing D x {1} pointwise. This presentation is calculated using the action of this group on a simply-connected complex.

Non-positively curved aspects of Artin groups of finite type

Artin groups of finite type are not as well understood as braid groups. This is due to the additional geometric properties of braid groups coming from their close connection to mapping class groups. For each Artin group of finite type, we construct a space (simplicial complex) analogous to Teichmueller space that satisfies a weak nonpositive curvature condition and also a space "at infinity" analogous to the space of projective measured laminations. Using these constructs, we deduce several group-theoretic properties of Artin groups of finite type that are well-known in the case of braid group…

全对称集

Totally Symmetric Sets

本文综述全对称集理论及其在对称群、辫群、线性群和映射类群同态问题中的应用。

Positive presentations of the braid groups and the embedding problem

A large class of positive finite presentations of the braid groups is found and studied. It is shown that no presentations but known exceptions in this class have the property that equivalent braid words are also equivalent under positive relations.

The group of parenthesized braids

We investigate a group $B\_\bullet$ that includes Artin's braid group $B\_\infty$ and Thompson's group $F$. The elements of $B\_\bullet$ are represented by braids diagrams in which the distances between the strands are not uniform and, besides the usual crossing generators, new rescaling operators shrink or strech the distances between the strands. We prove that $B\_\bullet$ is a group of fractions, that it is orderable, admits a non-trivial self-distributive structure, i.e., one involving the law $x(yz)=(xy)(xz)$, embeds in the mapping class group of a sphere with a Cantor set of punctures, a…

A representation of generalized braid group in classical braid group

We ask if any finite type generalized braid group is a subgroup of some classical Artin braid group. We define a natural map from a given finite type generalized braid group to a classical braid group and ask if this map is an injective homomorphism. We prove that this map is a homomorphism for the braid groups of type A_n, B_n, I_2(k). The injectivity question of this homomorphism (in these particular cases) is not yet settled. If this map is an injective homomorphism then several results will follow. For example it will follow that the Whitehead group, projective class group and the lower K-…

Lagrangian embeddings of the Klein bottle and combinatorial properties of mapping class groups

A proof of non-existence of Lagrangian embeddings of the Klein bottle K in \CP^2 is given. We exploit the existence of a special embedding of K in a symplectic Lefschetz pencil on \CP^2 and study its monodromy. As the main technical tool, we develop the theory of mapping class groups, considered as quotients of special Artin braid groups, and obtain some new results about combinatorial structure of such groups.

辫群Bn不是Dn型拟考克斯特区间群的商群

The braid group Bn is not a quotient of a quasi-Coxeter interval group of type Dn

研究对于n≥5时，Dn型考克斯特群的适当拟考克斯特元相关区间群与n股辫群的关系，通过映射类群理论证明该区间群不存在到辫群的满同态，提供其与Dn型阿廷群不同构的新证。

Actions of the braid group, and new algebraic proofs of results of Dehornoy and Larue

This article surveys many standard results about the braid group with emphasis on simplifying the usual algebraic proofs. We use van der Waerden's trick to illuminate the Artin-Magnus proof of the classic presentation of the algebraic mapping-class group of a punctured disc. We give a simple, new proof of the Dehornoy-Larue braid-group trichotomy, and, hence, recover the Dehornoy right-ordering of the braid group. We then turn to the Birman-Hilden theorem concerning braid-group actions on free products of cyclic groups, and the consequences derived by Perron-Vannier, and the connections with t…

The inclusion of configuration spaces of surfaces in Cartesian products, its induced homomorphism, and the virtual cohomological dimension of the braid groups of S^2 and RP^2

Let M be a surface, perhaps with boundary, and either compact, or with a finite number of points removed from the interior of the surface. We consider the inclusion i: F\_n(M) --\textgreater{} M^n of the nth configuration space F\_n(M) of M into the n-fold Cartesian product of M, as well as the induced homomorphism i\_\#: P\_n(M) --\textgreater{} (π\_1(M))^n, where P\_n(M) is the n-string pure braid group of M. Both i and i\_\# were studied initially by J.Birman who conjectured that Ker(i\_\#) is equal to the normal closure of the Artin pure braid group P\_n in P\_n(M). The conjecture was late…

On the Lie algebras associated with pure mapping class groups

Pure braid groups and pure mapping class groups of a punctured sphere have many features in common. In the paper the graded Lie algebra of the descending central series of the pure mapping class of a sphere is studied. A simple presentation of this Lie algebra is obtained.

The structure of the group of conjugating automorphisms and the linear representation of the braid groups of some manifolds

In this paper we describe the structure of a group of conjugating automorphisms $C_n$ of free group and prove that this structure is similar to the structure of a braid group $B_n$ with $n>1$ strings. We find the linear representation of group $C_n$. Also we prove that the braid group $B_n(S^2)$ of 2--sphere, mapping class group M(0,n) of the $n$--punctured 2--sphere and the braid group $B_3(P^2)$ of the projective plane are linear. Using result of J. Dyer, E. Formanek, E. Grossman and the faithful linear representation of Lawrence--Krammer of $B_4$ we construct faithful linear representation …

OE and W* superrigidity results for actions by surface braid groups

We show that several important normal subgroups $Γ$ of the mapping class group of a surface satisfy the following property: any free, ergodic, probability measure preserving action $Γ\curvearrowright X$ is stably OE-superrigid. These include the central quotients of most surface braid groups and most Torelli groups and Johnson kernels. In addition, we show that all these groups satisfy the measure equivalence rigidity and we describe all their lattice-embeddings. Using these results in combination with previous results from [CIK13] we deduce that any free, ergodic, probability measure preservi…

渐近刚性映射类群 III：展示与同构

Asymptotically rigid mapping class groups III: Presentations and isomorphisms

本文通过群在脊柱复形上的作用，计算了编织Higman-Thompson群的明确展示及其阿贝尔化，并利用这些代数不变量解决了树的渐近刚性映射类群同构问题的多个新情况。

Classifying spaces for the family of virtually cyclic subgroups of braid groups

We prove that, for $n\geq 3$, the minimal dimension of a model of the classifying space of the full braid group $B_n$, and of the pure braid group $P_n$, with respect to the family of virtually cyclic groups is $n$.

Primeness results for von Neumann algebras associated with surface braid groups

In this paper we introduce a new class of non-amenable groups denoted by ${\bf NC}_1 \cap {\bf Quot}(\mathcal C_{rss})$ which give rise to $\textit{prime}$ von Neumann algebras. This means that for every $Γ\in {\bf NC}_1 \cap {\bf Quot}(\mathcal C_{rss})$ its group von Neumann algebra $L(Γ)$ cannot be decomposed as a tensor product of diffuse von Neumann algebras. We show ${\bf NC}_1 \cap {\bf Quot}(\mathcal C_{rss})$ is fairly large as it contains many examples of groups intensively studied in various areas of mathematics, notably: all infinite central quotients of pure surface braid groups; …

The classification of Wada-type representations of braid groups

We give a classification of Wada-type representations of the braid groups, and solutions of a variant of the set-theoretical Yang-Baxter equation adapted to the free-product group structure. As a consequence, we prove Wada's conjecture: There are only seven types of Wada-type representations up to certain symmetries.